Tea bag or the like and method of and means for securing it



H. W. MORRIS Dec. 26, 1933.

TBA BAG OR THE LIKE AND METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR SECURING IT Original Filed July 18. 1929 Patented Dec.26,1933 34L UNITED STA S PATENT- F a 1 1,941,218..' I TEA BAG on THE LIKE 'AND METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR SECURING 1'1 Harold W. Morris, :Waltham,'Mass., assignor to I Frederick Osann Company, New York, N. Y.,.

, a corporation of New York Original application July 18, 1929, Serial No. 379,107, now Patent No. 1,875,753. Divided and this application July 26, 1930. Serial 'No; 470,873 7 11 Claims. (01. 53-3) This invention relates tothe wrapping or tyever it isdesired to wrap about material gathered 'ing of material together in bundle formation. together. in bundle formation. f While this invention is not limited theretoin'its For a more complete understanding of this inbroader aspects, one example is in the packagvention reference may be had to the accompanyingbf portions ,of tea in pieces of muslin or the ing drawing in which Q like to form what is known as tea balls, the Figure 1 is a side elevation of a buttonf'sewtea being. placed substantially in the center of ing-machine, the side cover plate being removed, the piece-of muslin and they margins of the piece showing a bag holder substituted for the button being brought together so as to form a bag loosely clamp. I I 1 enclosing'the tea and secured by a'wrapping or ty- Figure 2 is a perspective of the bag holder; 65 ing operation; Thisinvention also includes the Figure 3 is a cross section of the bagholder product so wrapped. showing a bag in position therein. I

The present application is a division of my ap- Figure 4 isa side elevation of the upper jaw plication Serial No. 379,107, filedJuly 18, 1929, for member of the bagholderQ Mechanism for securing bags or the like which Figure 5 is a detail section on line 5-501? Fig- 1 has matured into Patent Number 1,875,753. ure 1. i V I The wrapping or tying operation may be per- Figure 6 is a perspective of the completed tea formed by a sewing machine of a type commonball. Y

ly used for sewing on buttons. In such machines Figure 7 is a detail to a larger scale showing 11 the button is commonly held in a clamp to prethe engagement of the thread loopsv about the cent a'hole therein in'the path of a needle and fabric of the ball. V v

between sewing strokes of the needle ,airelative Referring to the drawing, thesewingmachine movement laterally of the needle path between shown in Figure l is substantially that shown the needle and the clamp is produced so that in, the Lyons Patent No. 1,671,197, grantedjMay the needle passes'alte'rna'tely through each of;a 29, 1928, in which a laterally movable needle. is

pair of sewing, holes in the button, In "some employed,:the needle vibrating laterally about a, 'inachines this relative. lateral movement is propivot. Itshould be understood, however, that the duced by moving the button clamp and in othinvention isnot limited to this type of machine,

er machines it is produced by moving theneedle which is .shown only by way. of;,example'.

1. laterally either bodily or about a pivot. Com- The machine as shown in Figure 1 comprises monly these machines are of the single thread a suitable base 1 having a sewing arm 2 upstandchain type, although a lock stitch two-thread ing from the rear portion of thebase andextendmachine might be used if desired. ing thereover toward the frontof the base where In'accordance with the present invention any of it is provided with the sewing head3. Beneath ;tl1'ese'button sewing machines may be used by this sewing headis positioned the work table 4 9 substituting for the button clamp a holder for the V which is provided with a-suitable opening 5 therebag (or other material to be wrapped) so related through through which-,the needle 6 may pass. I "to the needlethatv during the stitching opera- The needle 6, as shown, is carried at thelower "tionQthe needle passes alternately on opposite end of a needle bar 7 slidablethroughguides 8 V 40 sides of'the bag material which is gathered toand 9 carried by the head 3, h upp 'su de be j 45 place'on'opposite sides and secured therebeneath. the rear end of this lever 12 having a cam folgether to form a bundle where the stitching is carried by the pivot 10. The lower guide 8 is I effected, thus 'to'tie or wrap the material ofthe pivoted to the forward end of a lever 12 having bag together locally by a series of thread loops an adjustable fulcrum at 13 by which the amount passed alternately around the bag material at one of lateral motion of the needle may be adjusted,

Both sides of each loop pass together about the lower 1 4 riding in a cam groove in a horizontal gathered material and the ends of successively cam 15. This cam 15 is carried at the upper end placed loops are secured together. some of these of a rotary shaft 16 which is driven from the horistitch loops, particularly those Jfirst placed may zontal shaft 17 which has suitable driving means 0 pass through portions of the bag material-which -(not shown) attached thereto. The shaft 17 j may chance to bulge into'the needle path, this: also carries an eccentric 18 by'which motion is engagement of the loops with the material act transmitted through an eccentric rod '19 to a ing to hold the threads against. displacement rock shaft 20 through a crank arm 21,0n its rear therealong; This method-of wrapping thread ,end. The forward end of this rock shaft 20 1s 'loops about-the fabric mayflnd application wher-h connected through thecrankarm 22 and the link 23 with a collar 24 adjustably clamped to the needle bar 7. By means of these driving connections the needle bar is caused to reciprocate to impart sewing strokes to the needle, and it is also caused to move laterally alternately in opposite directions between sewing strokes. At the forward end of the shaft 17 is carried some form of looper mechanism shown conventionally as a rotary looper 25, this looper forming a portion of the stitching instrumentalities in position to cooperate with the needle 6 and to form chain stitches, this machine being a single thread chain stitch machine.

The arm 2 is shown as provided adjacent to its lower end with suitable pivot lugs 30 designed to receive the button clamp when this machine is used for sewing buttons. When usedfor the purpose of the present invention, these pivot lugs are employed to pivotally secure the rear end portion .of a work holder 31. This work holder, as shown, comprises a plate portion 32 having secured at its rear end a pivot block 33 adapted to receive a pivot pin 34 for, pivotallyconnecting the work holder to the lugs 30. The forward end of the plate portion 32 is so positioned as to normally rest'upon the upper face of the work table 4 and carries thereon a pair of upwardly extending elements 35 and 36 spaced apart a distance sufficient to permit portions of a sheet of muslin or other suitable material, such as 40, gathered together in bundle formation and, as shown, en

closing a portion of tea or other desired commodity, to be inserted therebetween. These elements 35 and 36 are provided with opposed grooves 41 and 42 in their confronting faces which form passages to receive the needle 6 out wardly of opposite sides of the gathered fabric material 40 positioned therebetween.

As shown the element 35 is narrower and of less height than the element 36, the element 36 thus serving as a guide against which the fabric material may be pressed and then guided down into its position between the two elements'thus to facilitate the insertion of the material into the holder. The forward and rear opposing faces of these elements are preferably beveled, as shown at 43 and 44, in order also to facilitate the easy placing and removal of the fabric material. The fabric thus gathered together into bundle formation is arranged to be clamped in position between the elements 35 and 36. To this end a pivot block 50 is shown as fixed to the plate 32 to therear of an upwardly bent portion 51 thereof, and to the side of this plate is shown as pivoted at 52 a clamping member 53. The forward end of this clamping member is shown as formed as an angle plate 54 which may, when idle, rest upon the spaced upper end portions 55 of the element 36, and which has a pair of spaced downwardly extending feet 5'7 arranged in a line substantially at right angles to the alined relation of the elements 35 and 36, and on opposite sides of'the needle path. The upper face 60 of the 'member 54 is cut away as at 61 in continuation means for lifting the button clamp from the work table. The machine shown has such a mechanism in the rock shaft pivoted in bearings 71 and 72 in the upper portion of the arm 2, this rock shaft 70 having a crank arm '73 to which is attached a chain 74 to the lower end of which the button clamp may be fixed. The shaft 70 may be rocked against the action ofa torsion spring 75 by any suitable means, such for example, as a treadle as disclosed more particularly in the Lyons patent hereinbefore referred to. Where the work holder hereinbefore described is employed, this chain 74 may be fixed thereto, as, for example, on the pivot 52 so that the work holder may be raised from the face of the work table, and this raising of the work holder may be utilized to lift the clamping member 53 from engagement with the fabric placed between the elements 35 and 36. To this end there may be fixed to the lower portion of the machine, an arm having a slotted extremityin which the laterally turned end 66 of the clamping member may be engaged so that as the work holder is raised the clamping feet are caused to be swung upwardly at a faster rate than the work holder, due to-the fact that the rear end of the clampingmember is' prevented from rising with the work holder by reason of its engagement with the fixed plate 80. In order that the normal clamping position of the feet may be adjusted in accordance with the size of the bundle of fabric, this arm-80 may be adjustable. As shown this may be accomplished by forming this arm in two parts having a pin 105 and slot connection with each other as .at82 (see Figure 5). The lower ends of the feet 57 are preferably provided with teeth or prongs 85, those of each foot being directed away from those of the other foot so as to tend to stretch the material lengthwise between. the elements 35 and 36 when the feet are brought down thereon. The element 36 also acts as a stop to limit the descent of the clamping member when no work is in the holder, thus protecting the prongs 85 from con- 5 tacting with and being dulled by metal parts of the holder.

The bag having been formed and the margins of the fabric material having been brought together in bundle formation and inserted in the' work holder between the elements 35 and36 while the forward end of the workholder is in its raised position, the work holder is allowed to descend to the face of the work table which brings the feet of the clamp down against the work. The stitching operation is then performed, the needle passing in its stitching strokes alternately through the passages formed by the notches 41 and 42 in the elements 35 and 36 so as to lay thread loops alternately over and down opposite sides of the fabric, these loops being engaged beneath the fabric in chain stitch formation by reason of the looper mechanism hereinbefore referred to. As is usual in button sewing machines of the single thread type, the last1 two strokes of the needle may be caused to take place in the same lateral relation between the needle and the work, thus to tie the thread at the end of the sewing operation. Then the operator raises the work holder, which acts to 140 break the thread adjacent to the knot as well as to lift the clamping member, whereupon the tea ball may be removed from the machine, and another which has not been tied placed in position therein.

In Figure 7 is shown somewhat diagrammatically for the sake of clarity, the lower face of the bundle of fabric where the successive stitches are secured together in chain stitch formation, the successive stitches as placed being mpg-" iso in actual operation these thread loops are tight- 1y engaged with eachother in usual chain stitch a second thread on the formation. It is, of course, evident that were this work holder applied to a two-thread machine, the thread loops would be interlocked with underside of the fabric bundle in the well known manner of a lock stitch. V g

Certain embodiments of this invention having thus been described, it should be evident to those skilled in the artthat various changes and modi-- without departing fications may be made therein from the spiritor scope of this invention as fined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A wrapping for a bundle which comprises a series of loopsof thread passed-over andabout opposite sides of the bundle at one place and secured together in chain stitch formation.

2. A bag having a portion gathered together and securedby loops of thread passed therearound and secured together in chainstitch formation.

3. In combination, fabric material gathered together and secured by loopsflof thread passed therearound and secured together in chain stitch formation. 7 V

4. In combination, fabric material "gathered together and secured by loops of thread passed therearound and secured together in chain stitch formation, certain of said portions of the fabric. 5. A wrapping for a loops passing through bundle which comprises a series of 'loops of thread, both sides of each loop passing together locally about the bund1e,.alternate loops extending therearound in opposite dibeing secured together. I

rections and their ends 6. A bag having a portion gathered together and secured by a series of loops of thread, both sides of each loop passing together therearound and alternate loops. in oppositedirections' and with their'ends secured together.

7. A bag having a portion gathered togetherand secured by a series of loops of thread, both side of each loop passing together therearound,

the ends of certain successive loops being secured together, and certain of said loops passing through portions of the bag.

8. In combination, fabric material gathered together and securedby a seriesof loops of thread, both sides of each loop passing'together therearound and successive loops being secured together at their ends, certai through portions of the fabric.

9. In combination, fabric material gathered together and secured by a series of loops of thread, both sides of eachloop passing together therearound, alternate loops passing in opposite directions about the' m'aterial and having their ends secured together.

' 10. A wrapping for a bundle which comprises a se'riesof loops of thread wrapped therearound of said loops passing a about the bundle and successive loops being se-, cured togetherat their ends. r g 11. A bag having aportion gathered together and wrapped by a series of loops of thread passed therearound, both sides of each loop passing together about the gathered portion, successive loops being secured together. 3

. HAROLD W. MORRIS. 

